Mansion on Haunted Cliff
by Katherine Monet
Summary: IT'S FINISHED!!!! Horray!!! *shoots fireworks* Yay!! Finally!!! ...Please R/R.
1. A Shady Invitation

Mansion on Haunted Cliff

Chapter 1-A Shady Invitation

          It was a bleak and bleary day in the middle of Nowhere.  Courage was lounging on Muriel's lap as she rocked back and forth just like always.  Eustace was watching television, laughing his head off and slapping his knee as would be expected.  Courage sighed contently.  All was well and normal.

          Suddenly a horrible ringing noise cut through the peacefulness!  Of course, it was just the telephone.

          "Well I wonder who that could be," said Muriel as Eustace reached for the phone mumbling something about crazy people ruining his television shows.  Muriel looked at the empty space on her lap. "Now where did Courage go off to?  Courage?"

          Courage was currently connected to the ceiling, purple fur standing straight on end.  He liquefied and dripped little by little until he was a mere puddle with eyes on the floor.  Then he immediately returned to his old self.

          "I hate when the phone does that!" he complained.

          "Good afternoon good people," came an eerie voice from the phone. "I would like to propose an offer.  It involves…money!"

          "Blah, blah…Wha?!"  Eustace said, turning his entire attention to the mysterious stranger.

           "Yes," the voice continued "Yes, but before we discuss the green, we must talk about the conditions."

          "I don't care about no stinkin' conditions, just get to the part about the money!" Eustace said like a little schoolboy.

          "Okay then, your loss." The stranger made an evil little snicker then continued. "Tomorrow, come to the Mansion on Haunted Cliff.  There you will be spending the night, and if you survive to see morning light, you shall receive one thousand dollars." Then there was the click of a phone being laid on a cradle, and a dial tone.

          "Did you hear that Muriel?  We're gonna be rich!  Filthy, stinkin' rich!" Eustace started to dance around and sing about money. 

          "My won't that be lovely." Muriel stated.

          Then Eustace pulled Muriel up by the arms and they both danced as Courage watched helplessly on the chair.

          "I've got a bad feeling about this!" he said.


	2. The Mansion

Chapter 2

The Mansion

        The next day Courage, Muriel, and Eustace piled into the truck and went off to the Mansion.  The moment they arrived, a thunderclap sounded and rain started to pour on top of their heads.  They ran to the front door and Eustace knocked.  

While they waited for someone to let them in, Courage studied the building with a great dislike.  It was big and spooky; there was a black, twisted metal fence encompassing it and the windows were like mouths frozen on a scream.  Courage managed to suppress a shiver.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal an old, stooped over man with gnarled limbs, who kept rubbing his hands nervously.  Courage whined and hid behind Muriel.

"Good evening, you must be here for the contest," the man said and Eustace nodded impatiently. "I'm Harry, the keeper of the Mansion.  Please follow me into the parlor where we will be meeting."

The four walked into the Mansion.  The door shut by itself and Courage yelped, running to catch up with Muriel. 

"My isn't this exciten' Courage." Muriel said.

The inside of the house was scarier than the outside.  It was all doom and gloom and that.  When they reached the parlor, they found none other than the diabolical Katz!

"Hello," he said. "I am the diabolical Katz, your host for this never ending night.  Please, make yourselves comfortable." He indicated some empty chairs. " The other contestants have already arrived."

They sat.  Courage found himself sitting next to Fred, Muriel and Eustace's nephew who had visited once before.  Just once.  Fred smiled a very toothy smile when he saw Courage.  _This keeps getting better and better,_ he thought.

"Oh hello there Fred." Muriel was saying.  "Didn't expect to see you here." 

"Yeah," Eustace joined in. "finally let ya out of the loony bin did they?"

Muriel got out a rolling pin, quiet conveniently from out of nowhere and hit Eustace on the head with it.

"OW! What'd I do?" 

Courage looked away from Fred very slowly, not trusting him.  And with good reason too!  He saw that another contestant was the famous Velvet Vic. _And better,_ thought Courage again. Then his eyes reached the last contestant.  Courage sighed.  It was Shirley the medium, a welcome face.  A little odd no doubt, but friendly.  

"Now that we're all here, I suppose we can start.  Anyone have any questions?" Katz asked.  

"When do I get me money?" yelled Eustace.

"All of you will receive the reward tomorrow.  That is to say if you're still alive." Katz answered. "Mmm mmm.  Mmaa.  MWAAA HAAAA HAAAA Haaa ha ha… Yes, well anyways."

"Yo Daddyo, isn't this place supposed to be an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane?" Velvet Vic asked suspiciously.  

"Heck no.  It's an abandoned school for clowns!  Where did you get a crazy idea like that?" Katz snorted in reply then clapped his hands together. "Okay everyone, you get the idea so let the game begin!" 


	3. Scary Stuff

Chapter 3 

Scary Stuff

Everyone was sitting quietly, staring at each other.

"Isn't anyone going to _do_ anything?" Katz asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm not movin till I get me money." Eustace grumbled and crossed his arms and the silence began again.

"Well I'm goin to explore a bit." Muriel said after a while. "This is very exciten!" 

She stood up and started to walk to a door, Courage not far behind, when all of a sudden Harry jumped in front of her and eerily warned, "Go anywhere except…the basement. Beware of the basement!"

"Well, if ya say so dear." Muriel shrugged and opened the opened the door.

"Wait!" Katz yelled and ran to where Muriel and Courage were. "There are no dogs allowed in any of the other rooms."

"Sorry Courage, I guess I won't be seein ya fer a while then." 

"But, but, but…" Courage stuttered, but Muriel was already walking into the dark shadows, humming a cheery tune as she went. Courage whined dejectedly and returned to his seat.

"Courage…" Fred said unexpectedly and held up a razor. Courage screamed and his limbs popped off.

"Yo daddyos, I'm gonna go searchin for a piano and swing." Velvet Vic said and left too.

"Nope, not movin." Eustace mumbled again.

With the small distraction that Vic made gave Courage enough time to bolt into the room that Muriel had entered earlier. He ended up in a dimly lit room that smelled strongly of cotton candy.

"Muriel, Muriel!" Courage called into the darkness. The response was an ear splitting scream.

"Oh no!" Courage gasped, his ears standing straight up. "I've gotta save Muriel!"

He started running to where the scream had come from and eventually found himself at…another doorway! Dun, dun, dun. But this was no ordinary doorway for it led to…_the basement!_ Dun dunnunun!

"I know this can't be good." Courage said to the audience, but being the brave, loyal, loving dog he is he made his way down the creaky steps that seemed they would give at any moment. 

When he arrived at the bottom of the stairs he found a switch that turned on the lights and looked around. All around the basement were a bunch of glass cases with stuffed animals in them that looked like they had gone through brutal torture. There were some with their heads ripped off, and some with their stuffing falling out of huge gashes in their seams, and even a pink bunny rabbit on a noose!

"Ugh." Courage cringed. He went past the poor mutilated stuffed animals and headed onward. 

Another of Muriel's screams shattered the air, this one much closer, and Courage nervously started to run toward the sound. 

"Awoooooooo!" He howled for before him was the most terrible scene Courage had ever witnessed. 


	4. REALLY Scary Stuff

A/N - sorry about the lateness of the last chapter. My computer crashed…TWICE!!!!…It was my fault too… Well that's all over now, so on with the story! 

Chapter 4

REALLY Scary Stuff

Meanwhile, upstairs in the parlor, Courage's screaming cold be heard by everyone. Well except Eustace who had fallen sound asleep (with the aid of earplugs).

"I told them not to go into the…_basement!"_ Harry said dramatically and so conveniently, a flash of lighting lighted the room and a thunderclap sounded.

"Could you…not do that anymore?" Katz asked, a little agitated.

"Well yes, I suppose."

"Thanks."

"Someone should probably save the chubby and fuzzy ones, yes?" Shirley the Medium chimed in.

"Well it certainly won't be me seeing how this _is _my diabolical plan to kill all of you in the first place, but especially that dog. Oh how I detest him." Katz responded and shook a furry fist.

"We will look in my crystal ball." Shirley announced and immediately Eustace woke up.

"What did you just say about crystal?" he smiled a huge smile, apparently being able to hear through the plugs after all. Crystal is worth selling and of course anything worth selling is worth money.

"Stupid one," Shirley said completely ignoring Eustace's question. "Turn off all the lights."

"Rotten, lazy teenagers," Eustace mumbled but did as he was told.

Fred sat there smiling.

Shirley took out a crystal ball from nowhere and placed on the ground. Eustace, Katz, and Harry gathered around. 

Shirley gazed at the ball and after a moment went into a weird trance state. She began to moan and said, "I see…I see…"

"Please, do tell us." Said Katz sarcastically.

"I see…." She stopped short.

"What, what is it?" Eustace looked eagerly at the ball and the others leaned over too. When they saw, they also stopped short.

* * * *

We now return to Courage in the basement.

Courage looked up into the eyes of the horror before him, so scared he lost the voice to scream.

The giant 10-foot clown holding Muriel in claw like hands stared down in confusion at the little pink dog. Muriel screamed again and Courage noticed a big boiling pot of caramel directly beneath her.

"Muriel!" Courage called and, forgetting his fears (could it be true?!?!?!?) ran up to the monstrous clown and bit the end of his oversized shoe.

"Owwwww!" it yelled and hopped up and down on one foot while at the same time dropping Muriel. Thankfully, she landed on a pile of cotton candy.

"Come on Courage," Muriel said once recovered. "Let's get out of this horrible place."

"Uh huh," he agreed and the two began running for the basement door. They heard the clown thundering behind them. Past the museum of butchered stuffed animals they went, but the clown was closing in fast. Will the two escape a horrible carnival style death?


	5. Eeeevil

Chapter 5

Eeee-vil

Back upstairs with Eustace and the others, they were still gathered around Shirley's crystal ball gazing at it intently.

"I see…nothing," Shirley said.

"This is stupid," Eustace complained, "Stupid crystal ball." He got up and kicked the ball, which went rolling in the direction Muriel and Courage had disappeared earlier. Everyone watched as it came to a stop.

"Do you…hear something?" Katz asked the group and Harry nodded. "It sounds a lot like…" he trailed off as suddenly Courage came running through the door screaming like a banshee, carrying Muriel on his back as he went. He ran to Shirley and started to babble at a rapid pace, then went into a phase where he changed into a series of monsters.

Shirley's eyes widened and she said, "We must leave at once, for the evil has awakened!" at this everyone, except Fred, gasped.

"I knew it! I…I knew this would happen! This is all your fault," Harry stammered, pointing at Katz. "Now I'm gonna die, and I don't want to die! I'm too, well, I can't really say I'm too young I guess."

"Stop whining." Eustace growled. "I know just the thing. I'm gettin me mallet."

"But Eustace we aren't at home." Muriel told him when Courage put her down. He was about to respond, when abruptly the giant clown appeared, roaring over his lost dinner. Muriel turned to Courage and said, scolding, "You didn't close the door Courage."

"Hehheh heh heh." Was Courage's response.

The clown looked down at the tiny invaders of his home with blood red eyes. Then, it threw his head back and made a strange howling sound that hurt everyone's ears horribly.

Courage panicked, as usual. He took Muriel's hand and started running for the door. Fortunately, the clown didn't see them leave; he was too busy with the surprise of these new people. When they reached the door, Courage could see through the window that it was almost sunrise. He grabbed the handle and tried turning it, but much to his dismay, it was locked and needed a key.

Muriel moaned. "Oh Courage, it looks as though we may not be leavin after all." But Courage wasn't convinced. He took Muriel's hand once again and led her back to the parlor room. When they arrived there was no longer one clown. There was five

Courage screamed. He passed out. 


	6. The Conclusion to Our Story

Chapter 6

The Conclusion to Our Story 

"Come on ya stupid dog, wake up!" Eustace was whacking Courage's head trying to wake him up. "You always find some way out of these messes. Erggg, good for nothin mutt." Eustace grumbled. He felt a tap on his shoulder and when he looked up he saw one of the clowns holding a pie about the size of his truck! He yelled and tried to run away, but to no avail. The clown threw his giant pie and Eustace was covered with gooey pie filling.

The others were in the same predicament. Katz, Shirley, and Muriel were running around wildly to avoid being smothered in the pie of death. Harry had been hit long ago and Fred was still sitting there, in his own little world no doubt. None of the clowns noticed him anyway. 

Muriel screamed as a pie just missed her, "Courage, save me!" 

Courage's eyes fluttered open and he rubbed his head. "Arooo." He moaned then sat up. 

"Coouurraagge!!!" Muriel yelled again. 

"Drat, foiled again." Katz mumbled as a pie felled him.

Courage stood up and began hopping from foot to foot. "What do I do? What do I do?" he noticed the windows. A thought cloud appeared over Courage's head. In it was him opening the window and getting out with Muriel. Courage nodded then ran to the window and tore aside the curtain. Light from the rising sun poured into the room. 

Twisted screams came from the five clowns' mouth and they all suddenly disappeared. Courage sighed in astonishment and relief. 

"Good thinking dog." Shirley said and Muriel nodded. Courage blushed a little.

Suddenly Velvit Vic walked into the room. "Yo daddyos," he said. "What's swingin." He stopped when he saw the pie covered bodies on the floor. "Ragsville." 

"Poor Eustace," Muriel said as she walked over to him. "Looks like you're goin to be needin a bath."

"Errrr, " Eustace growled. "It's all because of that stupid dog." Then he turned to Katz who was starting to clean himself. "Where's me money."

"What? Oh, it looks like I should be going. Tah, tah!" Katz jumped out of the window and Eustace ran after him yelling.

Muriel looked at her watch. "Oh my! I have to get home and start on breakfast. We're havin my special eggs…with vinegar!" she smiled while Courage made a retching noise. "Fred, would you like to come over for breakfast?"

"Yes. Thank you," Fred replied politely. Courage muffled a cry of terror.

Everyone left climbed out of the window and went home.

Well, with the exception of Harry.

"Wait!" Harry yelled after them as he lay sputtering in the pie. "Wait don't leave me here! They'll come back, you know, and destroy us all! Wait!" 

Courage turned to the audience and said, "You know, I'm really starting to hate that guy."

A/N-Yay I finished!!!! I know it's not very good and the end is nothing like in the movie, but I had to make it sweet you know, no death or dying or any of that. Oh well… 

^ _ ^ Hope you enjoyed!


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